astronomy

Phil Christensen

Phil Christensen is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Phil Christensen rather than just read about it. In short: Philip Russel Christensen (born 1953) is a geologist whose research interests focus on the composition, physical properties, processes, and morphology of planetary surfaces, with an emphasis on Mars and the Earth. He is currently a Regents' Professor and the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor of Geological Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU).

Key takeaways

Phil Christensen belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Phil Christensen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Phil Christensen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Philip Russel Christensen (born 1953) is a geologist whose research interests focus on the composition, physical properties, processes, and morphology of planetary surfaces, with an emphasis on Mars and the Earth. He is currently a Regents' Professor and the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor of Geological Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU).

Education Christensen earned his B.S. degree in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1976. He earned his M.S. in 1978 and his Ph.D. in 1981 in geophysics and space physics, both from UCLA.

Career Along with serving on the faculty of the Department of Geology at Arizona State University since 1981, Christensen is the principal investigator for the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), the Mars Odyssey THEMIS, the Europa Clipper Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System and the Lucy Thermal Emission Spectrometer instruments, as well as a co-investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers, responsible for the Mini-TES instruments. He also serves on the research staff of the Center for Meteorite Studies museum on the ASU campus and is the director of the Mars Space Flight Facility. He served as co-chair of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey in 2022, with Robin M. Canup. His discovery (based on Thermal Emission Spectrometer data) of crystalline hematite in Meridiani Planum was instrumental in that area's choice as the landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

Awards and honors Christensen was awarded the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal by NASA in 2003, and was elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2004. In September, 2009, he served as chair of the Mars Panel of the National Research Council's 2013-2022 Decadal survey on planetary science. Asteroid 90388 Philchristensen, discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2003, was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 12 July 2014 (M.P.C. 89085). In August, 2018, he was awarded the Whipple Award by AGU for his contributions to planetary science.

References

External links Philip R. Christensen, Curriculum Vitae ASU Profile for Philip R. Christensen, Arizona State University – School of Earth and Space Exploration Phil Christensen's homepage TES Instrument Homepage THEMIS Instrument Homepage MTES Instrument Homepage OTES (OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer) instrument homepage

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Phil Christensen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Phil Christensen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Phil Christensen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Phil Christensen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Phil Christensen

In research: Phil Christensen appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Phil Christensen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Phil Christensen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 births, American planetary scientists, Arizona State University faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Phil Christensen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Phil Christensen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Phil Christensen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Phil Christensen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Phil Christensen in simple terms?

Why does Phil Christensen matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Phil Christensen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Phil Christensen.